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Murder suspect took 'too many' pills

A 19-year-old who shot and mutilated his roommate confessed his actions to 9-1-1 dispatchers, even detailing the circumstances that brought him into the Mountain View home of the victim.
“Um, I took some pills and then some more pills and I murdered my roommate,” Michael Anderson told a 9-1-1 dispatcher with Catawba County Communications. “I shot him three times and then used an axe and mutilated his body.”
Anderson has been charged with murder in the Monday morning death of Stephens Starr, 36, in the Mountain View area. Anderson called 9-1-1 about 4:54 a.m. Monday.
“I overdosed on Mucinex DM, the Dextromethorphan makes me feel a little weird and I took too many," Anderson told the 9-1-1 dispatcher. “I started getting real bad on drugs.. and then I killed my roommate. I can't believe I killed my roommate. My life is ruined.”
Throughout the call, the 9-1-1 dispatcher tried to keep Anderson calm. First directing him to put down a gun he said he was holding, then instructing him to sit in a chair near the front door of the Ruth Drive home, where Anderson apparently lived with Starr.
“OK, I need you to stay on the phone with me until they get there. OK?” the 9-1-1 operator said. “We're going to get you some help. Alright? I promise.”
Anderson described details behind the relationship he had with Starr. He also told the operator that he “did some things to the body that you don’t want them to see.” Catawba County Sheriff’s Office investigators said Starr’s body had a word carved into it, but declined to provide further information. Investigators also said words were written in ink on the victim’s body.
“I was straight, and I wanted to go bisexual and just to experiment and I went to a gay club and I met him and I went to his house,” Anderson said during the 9-1-1 call. “And he took me in, and I turned straight again. And he wanted to touch me and stuff, and I wouldn't let him. And he kept trying, and I waited until he went to sleep and then I shot him three times and then I mutilated him very badly and I'm sorry ...”
For the audio from the 9-1-1 call, please visit the "Video Feeds" portion of www.observernewsonline.com.

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